39 Unexpected praise (1/2)

The all-slaying dog was… a weird book to say the least. A pit bull abandoned at birth by his parents but luckily he was soon found by a pair of villagers heading to a nearby market to sell their food.

After reading a couple of chapters, Ensen found himself actually loving the novel. It was weird for sure, but it was weird enough that it made it different from anything else he had read before.

Looking over at Alina, he knew that he needed to introduce himself soon. She seemed to be leaving soon, so Ensen got up from his chair with the book in hand armed with the knowledge of the first few chapters.

Slowly walking towards Alina, she soon noticed him and blushed slightly from her previous actions.

Arriving near her table, Ensen soon thought of something.

'Wait I didn't think this through, what should I even talk about with the book?' Ensen thought to himself with an awkward expression.

With Alina staring intently at him in confusion, Ensen knew he had to say something.

”So… this book is really good. I've only read the first few chapters, but they've been amazing so far.” Ensen said, simply stating what he really thought about the book.

Upon hearing Ensen speak Alina's body posture changed significantly, from her previous reserved stance to one full of excitement over what Ensen had said.

”I know right! A lot of people think it's too weird, so they don't give it a try, but the book is the best.” Alina said confidently.

”I admit I was slightly put off by the premise, but it also intrigued me,” Ensen responded.

Knowing that his plan would work, Ensen began to talk about the first few chapters of the novel and give his thoughts about it while trying to find a good moment to pitch his private academy.

”I was shocked in the third chapter when the demon hound Jessie came to the village for their monthly tribute. Luckily nothing went wrong, though.”

Ignoring the little snicker Alina gave off that must've hinted to something later on in the story, Ensen continued.

”I really didn't think the good pupper god would bless him though, what a surprise.”

After discussing the novel for around 10 minutes, Ensen finally found the opportunity to steer the conversation in a different direction.

”Where do you go to school Alina?” Ensen asked, feigning curiosity since he already found out the answer from the stats about her.

With her eyes slightly widening in shock, the enthusiastic, extroverted Alina had disappeared and been replaced with her real personality.

”Oh, I'm homeschooled,” Alina said in a noticeably more reserved and hesitant voice. She even held both of her hands together to try to hide her nervousness.

'Well, she didn't run away at least. I'll take this as a win.' Ensen thought to himself as he continued.

”Do you think you'd like to go to school?” Ensen asked, leading up to another question.

”Umm… depends if people are nice I guess. Oh, and a library with lots of books is needed.” Alina said after pausing for a moment to think about it.

'Well… I can set up an online book reading service for now until I get enough points to expand.' Ensen thought for a moment before considering his following actions.

Slowly grabbing one of his business cards, Ensen placed it on the table near Alina so he wouldn't get in her personal space and began to speak.

”You see, I'm actually the principal and founder of a nearby private academy that was just established quite recently. It's pretty close to here too so it would be convenient for you. We don't have a library at the moment, but I'm sure I can find something similar that you would like.” Ensen said, trying to fully explain his academy while not boring her.

Pausing for a few moments, Alina hesitantly raised her voice ”That sounds okay, but my family doesn't have any money, we're just farmers. Plus I'm sure I don't deserve such a good education, I'm not that smart.”